READY TO PLAY?

SHALL WE PLAY A GAME?

NO SERIOUSLY…..

Overview

• What are Serious Games?

• What are we trying to do here?

• How can I use them?

• Sample Serious Games

What are Serious Games?

• Serious Games are games with a purpose beyond entertainment, including but not limited to games for learning, games for health, and games for policy and social change.

Source: http://seriousgames.msu.edu/

Serious Games

• Henry Jenkins, MIT– Exploration– Experimentation– Problem solving

Source: http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/11/from_serious_games_to_serious_1.html

Serious Games

• Henry Jenkins, MIT– Harness the metagaming, the active discussion

and speculation that take place around the game, to inform other learning activities.

Source: http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/11/from_serious_games_to_serious_1.html

What does this mean?

Source: http://clarkaldrich.blogspot.com/

Or as Michigan State puts it…

Source: http://seriousgames.msu.edu/

The New Literacies• Play — the capacity to experiment with one’s surroundings

as a form of problem-solving

• Performance — the ability to adopt alternative identities for the purpose of improvisation and discovery

• Simulation — the ability to interpret and construct dynamic models of real-world processes

• Appropriation — the ability to meaningfully sample and remix media content

The New Literacies• Multitasking — the ability to scan one’s environment

and shift focus as needed to salient details.

• Distributed Cognition — the ability to interact meaningfully with tools that expand mental capacities

• Collective Intelligence — the ability to pool knowledge and compare notes with others toward a common goal

• Judgment — the ability to evaluate the reliability and credibility of different information sources

The New Literacies• Transmedia Navigation — the ability to follow the

flow of stories and information across multiple modalities

• Networking — the ability to search for, synthesize, and disseminate information

• Negotiation — the ability to travel across diverse communities, discerning and respecting multiple perspectives, and grasping and following alternative norms.

Source: http://www.digitallearning.macfound.org/atf/cf/%7B7E45C7E0-A3E0-4B89-AC9C-E807E1B0AE4E%7D/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF

Game Genres

• Mini games: – Small, easy-to-access game built to be simple and

addictive, which often focuses on mastering an action and can provide awareness of more complicated issues.

• Interactive metrics: – Simulation in which students typically try to impact

critical metrics by allocating resources along competing categories and getting feedback of their decisions through graphs and charts.

Game Genres

• Frame games: – Students engage familiar games and puzzles such

as Wheel of Fortune®, solitaire, or memory, with important pieces of awareness or task-based content replacing trivia or icons.

• Branching story: – Simulation in which students make a series of

decisions via a multiple choice interface to progress through and impact an event.

Game Genres

• Practice ware: – Real-time, often 3D sims that encourages

participants to repeat actions in high fidelity situations until the skills become natural in the real-world counterpart

• Virtual product or virtual lab : – A series of challenges/puzzles to be solved using

on-screen representations of real-world objects and software.

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

• Content• Mode of Information• Metagaming• CYTIE

Vocabulary

• Simulation v. Game

• Engagement v. Fun

How can I use Serious Games?

Before using Serious Games

• Determine what your objectives are.

• Determine simulation requirements and reasonable computer capacity. – This will determine if students will encounter

simulation in class / on campus or off campus

Before using Serious Games

• Use the simulation yourself– Student’s will expect that you have done this and

can solve any of their problems

Before using Serious Games

• Develop grading and task rubric – Student’s will want clear goals and objectives

• Pre-survey• Actual task• Discussion

Before using Serious Games

• Assign task with realistic timeframe– If simulation is too large, cut it down

• Request feedback / post survey– Student’s want to know that you are doing this for

a reason– Survey’s allow students to vent and point out

issues and areas for improvement

Using Serious Games

1. Ice breakers– Utilize serious games/ simulations to introduce

class to new topics and stimulate discussion

2. Projects– Group or individual work– Use to reinforce class concepts and assess

mastery

Using Serious Games

3. Competitions– Break students into groups and have them

compete for prizes / extra credit

– Set up a computer lab for real time competition/ tournaments. ****

– Show screen on SmartBoard, so teams can share tactics/ learn new methods. *****

Place• On the SmartBoard before class

• On the SmartBoard during class

• In computer classroom

• Computer Commons

• Student’s personal Computers

Games for You to Test

Dafur is Dying

Eye of the Donkey

Viking Quest

REST OF THE WEEK

• Play one or all of the games– Darfur is Dying– Eye of the Donkey– Viking Quest

REST OF THE WEEK

• Show us or tell us about it.

– Post in Forums– Use a Screen capture?– Would you use it? – Why? Why not? – Found something better? Share!

Wednesday – 7 pm MST

• TWEETCHAT

– 60 minutes of twitter discussion– Start with quick intro– Then 4 questions– #gamemooc

Thursday – 7 pm MST

• Broadcast over Google On Air• Second Life on Front Range• Discussion of Jim Gee’s “Big G Games”

– Marianne Maelstrom– Peggy Sheehy– Bron Stuckey

Saturday Virtual Field Trip

• World of Warcraft– Google Air– Sisters of Elune, U.S. Server

– If you don’t already have a WoW account, we suggest watching this Saturday and next Saturday we will do an orientation.